Welcome

My intent is to write about whatever tickles my fancy: current affairs, politics, city life, local heroes, life transitions, the arts, our institutions, modern technology, fitness, travel, books and movies, whatever.

As I live in both Toronto and Vancouver, my view is from both those cities. My Toronto friends find my B.C. boosterism “bor…ing” and undoubtedly “naïve.” My Vancouver family and friends concede that Toronto is an exciting city but, “How could you ever give up Vancouver to live there?” One of my goals is to reconcile these differences, and perhaps entice British Columbians to love Toronto as I do. And vice versa.

We are, furthermore, a diverse community where increasing numbers of our population have their direct connections with countries and cultures abroad. Our country, however, is so vast, our regions so self-contained, and our citizens so grounded in their local areas that the glories of the entire country are often unknown. I would like to add a link to the cross-Canada chain.

My readers encouraged me to write more about the criminal courts. In January 2015, I finally took the leap and created a second blog, Re-view From the Bench, billed as the “reflections of a retired criminal court judge.” There, my focus is on current legal issues, and on how criminal courts actually work. After a year, I am debating whether to continue the legal blog as a separate entity, or to re-integrate any legal writing I do back into Effervescent Bubble. This year will decide that issue one way or another. In the meantime, I will continue writing about politics, national institutions, current affairs, and all the rest, here in The Effervescent Bubble.

I hope you will join me, and that some of my posts will pique your interest.